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Advertising Agency’s B2B relationship with MNC’s across the UK, France and
Germany: with particular reference to Internet Promotional Standardisation Strategy.
Key Words: B2B, Marketing and Internet.
ABSTRACT
The aim of this thesis is to provide a new insight into the “cause-effect” chain that
“traditional” research on international promotional standardisation has neglected. An
industrial theory will be used as a conceptual base to formulate the research framework. This
will identify key environmental and internal strategic factors as drivers and consequences of
Advertising Agency’s and MNC’s Internet Promotional Standardisation decision-making,
which, in turn affects the level of standardisation of this element.
This framework allowed the researcher to formulate further propositions and the design of a
discussion guide for in-depth interviews to test these propositions and carry out the necessary
collection of primary data.
Thus, 3 interviewees were interviewed from 3 Agencies across the 3 countries (1 from each
country):
WPP GROUP – UK
WPP GROUP – FRANCE
WPP GROUP – GERMANY
The framework supports the notion that there are antecedents that drive Internet Promotional
standardisation with regard to Agency’s and their B2B relationship with MNC’s. Therefore
this paper adds a valuable contribution in Internet Promotion to this subject area. The study
finds that, on average, managers reported that Standardised Advertising Strategy and Sales
Promotion is fairly high across these markets in the EU with Internet Promotion being the
highest!
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INTRODUCTION
Over the last few decades, the topic of standardisation of promotion has received
considerable attention in the academic literature without reaching conclusion. As Fastoso and
Whitelock (2007) noted, the origin of the standardisation debate in marketing and advertising
has been traced back to the 1920s and yet, only a few studies (e.g., Laroche et al. 2001;
Samiee et al. 2003) have examined the factors that lead companies to standardise their
advertising (Taylor 2002). Harris (1994) pointed out that there has been too much focus on
whether firm’s should standardise and too little focus on how they should go about it.
Previous studies have overlooked the issue of standardisation and now Internet Promotion,
particularly with the issue of Web 2.0 (Social Media sites). According to Laroche et al,
(2001), multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in European markets are now facing
more pressure to generate more comprehensive marketing strategies on the Web. This will
build a valuable contribution to the literature. The aim of this present study is to develop and
test a conceptual framework that (1) identifies the factors that lead firms to standardise their
Internet Promotion and (2) examines their overall impact on the level of standardised Internet
Promotional Strategies.
Our conceptual framework’s predictions are based on the theoretical perspective provided by
global marketing strategy (GMS) theory (Zou and Cavusgil 2002). Primary data from a
survey of marketing executives of Advertising Agencies in the UK, France and Germany
who deal with MNC’s was collected to test the framework.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The objectives of the research are:
1. To examine the proposition suggested by the literature that key environmental and
strategic factors can ‘trigger’ Internet Promotion Standardisation Strategy formulation for
MNCs and their subsidiaries and Advertising Agencies’ across the UK, France and
Germany.
2. To develop a framework that will serve as a theoretical base for the primary research,
which will examine Internet Promotional Practices of Agencies in the UK, France and
Germany and their relationship with MNC’s. The framework will be based on Zou and
Cavusgil (2002) GMS theory (Global Marketing Strategy – please refer to Appendix I),
which predicts that companies with internal orientations and external conditions more
conducive to standardisation will be more likely to employ Internet promotional
standardisation. The external factors being – advertising infrastructure, market/customer
similarity and competition across these markets. The strategic factors being – the extent
they use a global brand image across these markets; are there cost savings to be made;
cross-market segmentation and the decision making of the firm.
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Advertising Strategy and Sales Promotion are elements that Zou and Cavusgil (2002)
included in the GMS model shown as shown in Appendix I. However, to update this model
Internet promotion will take account of the recent trends and developments over the last few
years. It is therefore important to look at GMS from the perspective of the impact of the
Internet on standardisation of promotional strategies. This substantiates a clear contribution
to the field with the inclusion of Internet Promotion and within a B2B context.
3. This framework allowed the researcher to formulate the design of a discussion guide
and in-depth interviews to test these propositions and carry out the necessary research
and collection of primary data. This will confirm whether companies with internal
orientations and external conditions more conducive to standardisation will be more
likely to employ Internet promotional standardisation.
4. To develop a framework that can be used by MNCs and their subsidiaries and
Advertising Agencies in order for them to address the principal factors influencing
promotional standardisation practices.
Theoretical Foundations
In proposing a theoretical framework explaining the variables and factors of Internet
Promotional Standardisation in Europe, we will adopt Industrial Organisation (IO) theory.
This theory has often been used in literature in terms of a connection between the external
environment and company strategy. Fundamentally, IO theory suggests that market or
industry performance is determined by various market structure variables, in particular,
environmental variables (Venkatraman and Prescott, 1990). Many firms tend to choose their
strategies which would best fit the external market characteristics. This coalignment or
consistency between the market environment and company strategy is an important
organising concept in organisation research (Venkatraman and Prescott, 1990). Zou and
Cavusgil (2002) applied IO theory in examining the relationship between marketing
standardisation and performance.
This framework will make possible two main stages in this research. It will allow the
researcher to formulate further propositions. It will also allow the in-depth interviews to test
these propositions and carry out the necessary research and collection of primary data.
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Conceptual Framework –Propositions and Key Authors (Objective 1)
P1 – The level of importance of Internet promotional standardisation is dependent on
environmental factors (Zou and Cavusgil 2002). These being: Advertising Infrastructure –
(Samiee et al 2003); - Market Harmonisation (Samiee et al 2003); Level of Competition(Samiee et al 2003).
P2 - Firms that emphasise internal global strategic factors will pursue a higher degree of
Internet promotion standardisation (Zou and Cavusgil 2002). These being: Uniform Brand
Image – (Harris and Attour 2003; De Mooij, 2005; Keller, 2007; Kapferer, 2008); Cost
Savings- Duncan and Ramaprasad (1995); Cross Market Segmentation – (Hassan et al 2003);
Organisation Control – ( Laroche et al. 1999; Samiee et al. 2003; Solberg 2002).
The level of Internet Promotion is derived from Hollensen (2007); further research is
derived from (Constantinides and Fountain 2008; Chaffey et al 2009).
Appendix II, consists of the variables of Internet promotional standardisation (Objective
Two), this conceptual framework will be tested by the in-depth interview survey. This
framework predicts that key environmental and strategic factors will affect the level of
Internet promotional standardisation across these 3 chosen countries.
P1: The level of importance of Internet promotional standardisation is dependent on
environmental factors.
P2: Firms that emphasise internal global strategic factors will pursue a higher degree of
Internet promotional standardisation.
The data contained in the framework above and the formulations of the propositions are
fundamental for this research, as they will form the basis of the in-depth interview analysis
(Objective Three). This analysis is of primary importance as it leads to the creation of an
approach (Objective Four) that will guide marketing academics and practitioners in
addressing the principal factors influencing Internet promotional standardisation decisions
within this B2B context.
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INTERNET PROMOTION
With regard to Internet traffic, the world's focus is now shifting to Europe, as Europeans now
account for 22.7 per cent of all Internet users (rest of the world is 77.3 per cent), with
“Internet penetration levels static throughout much of the rest of the world”. Of this amount
in Europe: Germany is No 1 with 65.1 Million Users; Russia is No 2 with 59.7 Million Users;
UK is No 3 with 51.4 Million Users and France is No 4 with 45.2 Million Users (Internet
World Stats 2011). By the end of 2015, Internet data traffic in Europe will have increased
twentyfold compared to today's levels, driven largely by increases in the data-heavy
streaming of HDTV content, according to the managers of DE-CIX, a central Internet node
based in Frankfurt (Deutsche Well 2011). Therefore the study of the UK, France and
Germany in terms of Internet Promotional Standardisation certainly merits attention in terms
of a contribution to this paper.
Clearly, multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in European markets are now facing
more and more pressure to generate more comprehensive marketing strategies on the web
(Laroche et al 2001). Among various forms of online environment, web sites have been one
of the most popular platforms, allowing consumers to see, consult and obtain product-related
information anytime, anywhere. Such web sites can be seen as a new form of “global
interactive marketing communications”, offering opportunities to strengthen effective
relationship marketing in multiple markets (Roberts and Ko, 2001).
First, the growth of the Internet has particularly favoured the proponents of Internet
promotional standardisation, because anyone can access any web site from any wired or
wireless terminal in the world. However, Roberts and Ko (2001) argue that global interactive
communications should be viewed as “cross-cultural marketing communications”, suggesting
that web sites can be effectively programmed for “establishing corporate and brand
consistency and strong equity, while simultaneously allowing flexibility in being culturally
sensitive” For example, Amazon have a number of different websites e.g. UK, France,
Germany; countries that this paper will seek to investigate.
Second, as the array of marketing communications has been broadening, global network
agencies have expanded their service portfolios geographically, by merging with more
specialised agencies (Tharp and Jeong, 2001). In this vein, more and more interactive
agencies have been expanding their international network under the network's umbrella,
while improving technology has allowed artistic and idea diversity in creative marketing
communications; From the Business-to-Business (thereafter referred to as B2B) perspective
Agencies and MNCs will be discussed.
The results from this paper will therefore benefit both academics and practitioners by
providing clearer evidence as to whether a truly standardised approach has been adopted on
the Internet by Agencies who are assisting MNC’s with their promotional strategies.
The standardisation-versus-localisation issue has attracted considerable research efforts in
recent years, but most studies have focused on traditional media, leaving the cross-cultural
variability of online communications unexplored (Taylor and Johnson, 2002). This section of
the thesis therefore attempts to summarise the components influencing Internet Promotional
Standardisation by MNC’s and Agencies across these 3 countries in Europe.
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METHOD
The Agency Sample
Finally, it appears that studies of advertising agency executives – so far largely neglected in
the field – may prove to be especially valuable. According to Fastoso and Whitelock (2007),
specifically in relation to process standardisation, the agency perspective may add additional
elements to the understanding of company internal processes as these executives will be
aware, yet probably less biased by the client company internal situation, than managers
working for the client companies. This will be extremely useful in terms of the B2B
relationship with the client and the agency in terms of Internet Promotion.
For the selection of the agency - sample informal interviews were conducted with several
agencies with regard to advertising standardisation in these EU countries. Earlier studies have
shown that advertising agencies tend to adopt the standardisation approach in order to take
advantage of their own international networks and to maximise the profit potential from the
client’s international advertising budgets (Ryans 1969).
Zou and Volz (2010), more recently stated that when an advertising agency possesses a high
competency, it is more likely to advise the MNC about the benefits and feasibility of
standardised advertising, help the MNC co-ordinate the planning and execution of advertising
campaigns across the world and facilitate the MNC’s integration of its advertising objectives
and strategies in the global market. It was also noted that the preference of clients to
streamline and integrate their brand communications across countries spurred communication
agencies to take the globalisation route. They highlighted the fact that agencies with global
reach have the advantage of offering a single point of contact for coordinating marketing
activities, improved cost efficiencies, greater coherence in marketing ‘voice’ and access to
the agency CEO in times of crisis (Mediacom 2009).
The six global communication companies are comprised of Omnicom and Interpublic from
the USA, WPP from the UK, Publicis and Havas from France and Dentsu from Japan. The
three most important regions for the six communication holding companies were Western
Europe, North America and Central Asia/Asia Pacific.
WPP Group is the world leader in marketing communications services with revenue of £9.1
Billion. WPP Group are by far, the company with the most aggressive Mergers and
Acquisitions growth in Western Europe, followed by Publicis, Omnicom, Havas and
Interpublic.
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The actual sample of respondents from the agencies will be account executives or account
directors responsible for the Internet promotion/marketing decision-making. WPP Group was
selected, as stated above, as they are they are the largest in Western Europe and use
standardisation to some extent which is more relevant for the purposes of this paper.
Thus, 3 interviewees will be interviewed from 3 Agencies across the 3 countries (1 from each
country):
WPP GROUP – UK
WPP GROUP – FRANCE
WPP GROUP – GERMANY
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FINDINGS (Objective 3)
In-depth Interview with (WPP Group UK)
(Please refer to Appendices III and IV for France and Germany)
The following constructs were discussed as part of a semi-structured interview:

To research to what extent Advertising Agencies perceive EU markets as being similar?
Advertising Infrastructure

Tell me about Advertising regulation and if there are any similarities across these
markets in the EU?
“Yes, there are some similarities across these markets that you have mentioned. However,
despite years of integration efforts across these markets with the relevant bodies, we still
think there are differences across these markets. You still can’t treat these countries of the EU
as a single market. That may change even more in the future.”
Market Harmonisation

There has been an increase in the economic unification of the European Union; Tell
me if this has led to an increase in homogenisation of these markets (UK, France and
Germany) across the EU?
“Our own findings suggest that managers perceptions of convergence as reflected in
consumer homogeneity, market integration, media availability, and competitive conditions
are comprehensive and inclusive in that they incorporate multiple dimensions of
convergence across these markets in the EU. Therefore there has been an increase in
homogenisation across the markets that you have mentioned.”

Tell me if countries with geographic proximity tend to have similar Market
conditions?
“I think that culture still plays a part; Cross-national differences also play their part and I
think it would be too simplistic to suggest the EU as one single market where promotional
strategy can be planned accordingly. However, there is an increasing convergence and the
feasibility of standardised advertising in the EU.”
“Culture and cross-national differences... In terms of your conceptual framework which
looks at standardisation, I guess these could be considered negative variables and would
lend themselves more to adaptation.”
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Level of Competition
Tell me about the competition across these markets in the EU?
“Yes, the degree of competition across these markets is highly competitive. The competitive
conditions, as well, are highly intense.”
Tell me about your competitors? Do they have a uniform image across the European
markets?
“Most of our competitors do strive to create a uniform image across these markets. I think
within this context we also try to standardise promotion: at least for global brands, we strive
for stronger global promotion as we believe strongly in concentrating our resources to create
better, more efficient great promotion.”
What are the benefits from standardised advertising across the EU?
Uniform Brand Image
Tell me more about your brand positioning strategy? Is it standardised?
“One of the objectives of our category re-organisation was to benefit better from scale and
scope and to concentrate our resources on fewer and stronger innovation units. So, to an
extent yes, we are pursuing a global strategy of some form.”
In terms of a strong global image for your Brand – tell me if this has been created and
reinforced?
“Yes, we make an attempt to create and reinforce a strong global brand image especially in
our TV advertising across the EU. We believe that there is an issue of the impact of what an
effective standardised campaign should do for a company in terms of brand equity.”
Cost Savings
Tell me about the company’s promotional budget and whether it could be used more
efficiently if the advertising was standardised?
“Yes, one of the most important benefits of standardisation is the benefit from saving on
costs. We believe there are significant benefits to uniform marketing strategies within our
advertising. So yes, one can use the promotional budget more efficiently if we are saving
costs and can utilise more of our budget in other areas. I think this is particularly relevant in
today’s financial climate [worldwide recession] and companies should consider this
benefit...”
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Tell me about standardisation and if the company can save on the costs of producing
advertising?
“Yes, I think that goes without saying... one of the benefits of standardising the advertising is
to save costs. This in turn will allow us to make savings on the costs of producing the
advertising.”
Cross-market segmentation
Tell me if you believe that the company targets similar market segments across the
European markets in which they do business?
“Yes, I think to an extent they do with regard to these countries that you have mentioned such
as the UK, France and Germany. I think that this question ties in with the first question with
regard to convergence in the EU - The greater a firm's perception of increasing convergence
in the EU, the greater its tendency to follow a strategy to appeal to cross-border segments.”
Tell me if this standardised promotion can attract consumers with similar
characteristics across borders.
“Our own research suggests that the idea that the EU has become a uniform market in which
firms can ignore cross-national differences in planning advertising strategy is perhaps a bit
too simplistic.”
Centralised decision-making
Tell me about promotional decisions and are they are made centrally at the company’s
world headquarters or are the subsidiaries highly involved in developing promotional
strategy?
“The decisions are made centrally at the company’s world headquarters. Our subsidiaries
realise the importance of standardisation and HQ do try to pressure the subsidiaries into
standardising their promotion across these markets in the EU.”
To what extent is the company standardising their advertising strategy/executions, sales
promotion/internet promotion?
Advertising Strategy and Executions
Tell me if the company uses the same general strategy for their advertisements in all of
the countries where they advertise.
“Yes, to a fair extent we try to use the same general advertising strategy for our
advertisements across these markets. There are however, some differences e.g. language of
course.”
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Tell me also if the company uses the same advertising executions for all of the above
European countries in which they advertise?
“Like the strategy, to an extent, but this would not be as standardised as the strategic element
mentioned in the previous question."
Standardised Sales Promotion
“I have noticed that over the last few years more and more people have been using sales
promotion. Again, this is due to the mega competition that is facing retailers at the moment
e.g. Tesco, Wal-Mart etc are always in price wars! There is the increasing importance of
building standardised sales promotion campaigns to achieve higher global brand awareness of
products e.g. Subway’s new ‘My Subcard’ can be used in stores throughout Europe to gain
points towards ‘free’ sandwiches; points can be collected in both Pound Sterling and in
Euros. This achieves standardisation of the brand and enhances its relationship marketing on
a Europe Wide Basis. This has been strategically aligned with its advertising.”
Standardised Internet Promotion
“More and more customers are using the Internet as an ‘experience’ rather than just buying
commodities. Companies are looking to create global brand images by using the Internet as
the communication tool and then tweaking e.g. languages etc. to fit certain markets. I think
the popularity of the Internet ‘fits’ with promotional standardisation. You can communicate
your product to anyone who has Internet access. Companies like Coke can communicate their
‘global’ appeal e.g. on Facebook there is a fan club for Coke which has millions of people
registered to it. This is a great way to create a global identity and standardisation of
promotion follows suit! I think the Internet has and will allow greater standardisation of
promotion and adds more weight to the argument over adaptation. This unexplored area that
you are looking at is very new and could ‘overcome’ one of the traditional barriers to
standardisation: ‘culture’.”

So overall what are the key things that you perceive to be important when a firm
makes the decision to standardise its advertising across these markets?
“I believe that standardising advertising strategy is advisable when environmental conditions
allow it because of its ability to create a uniform brand image, achieve cost savings and
appeal to cross-market segments to a lesser extent.”
“In my opinion and having worked with marketing managers across these markets. I would
say that standardised advertising is more effective across the European Union.”
“Indeed, looking at the model - firms with appropriate internal conditions and facing
conducive environments will be more likely to employ standardised advertising programs.”
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DISCUSSION
Environmental Factors
The first objective was to examine the propositions suggested by the literature that key
environmental and strategic factors can ‘trigger’ the Internet promotional standardisation
strategy formulation for MNCs’s, their subsidiaries and Advertising Agencies across the UK,
France and Germany. Theory from the Literature Review generally suggests that firm’s that
have internal factors conducive to standardisation and that face similarly conducive
environments will be more likely to standardise marketing variables e.g. promotion. Thus,
the results are consistent with those of Zou and Cavusgil (2002); and provide support for
GMS theory, as it applies to promotion. Indeed, firm’s with appropriate internal conditions
and facing conducive environments were more likely to employ standardised promotional
programmes. Below we examine the results and implications of the specific findings that
support the theory.
The environmental factors include advertising infrastructure, market harmonisation and level
of competition, all of which are related to the similarity of the cross-national markets in
which a firm operates. Overall, respondent’s general perceptions were fairly positive
regarding market harmonisation, similarity of advertising infrastructure and level of
competition.
Perceptions of the advertising infrastructure
This is consistent with the findings from WPP Group (France 2010), who stated that there are
some forms of European Media, which are increasingly adopting uniform standards across
countries, which, in turn, ensures cross-border media availability. They also stated that there
is some form of growth of new telecommunication technologies and a wave of deregulation;
however there may still be some differences in the infrastructure of European markets. This
was also backed up by WPP Group Germany (2010), who stated that there is definitely a
swing towards similarity of advertising infrastructure, including the availability of similar
media and similar costs. Many European Media are increasingly adopting uniform standards
across countries e.g. SKY, BBC News, which in turn ensures cross-border media availability.
Perceptions of Market Harmonisation
This is consistent with the findings from WPP Group UK (2010) who suggest that manager’s
perceptions of convergence as reflected in consumer homogeneity, market integration, media
availability and competitive conditions are comprehensive and inclusive in that they
incorporate multiple dimensions of convergence across these markets in the EU. This is
further re-enforced by WPP Group Germany (2010) who stated that there has been increasing
market homogenisation across Europe. They also try to base their strategy alongside these
increasing trends.
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The level of competition
The respondents generally perceived competitive conditions across the EU to be intense. This
also appears consistent with Samiee et al (2003) who suggest that in settings where
competitive conditions are intense - WPP Group UK (2010); WPP Group France (2010);
WPP Group Germany (2010) stated that the degree of competition across these markets is
highly competitive - GMS theory would recommend using standardised promotion to build a
consistent image to gain a competitive advantage, or to respond to a competitor that has built
a consistent image. This is also consistent with WPP Group UK (2010), who stated that most
competitors do strive to create a uniform image across these markets. WPP Group France
(2010), also back this up within this context with regard to standardising promotion: “at least
for global brands, we strive for stronger global advertising as we believe strongly in
concentrating our resources to create better, more efficient great advertising.” WPP Group
UK (2010); WPP Group France (2010); WPP Group Germany (2010), stated that the degree
of competition across these markets is highly competitive. It should be noted that the level of
competition, as defined here, will refer not to the firm’s relative competitive position in each
market but, rather, to the overall degree of competition that the company faces in those
markets in which it operates.
Therefore when advertising infrastructure, market harmonisation and level of competition are
analysed together, the environmental factors were significantly related to the level of Internet
promotional standardisation. This supports the contention by Zou and Cavusgil (2002), that
the presence of these environmental factors makes standardised promotion more feasible and
desirable. We then predict that there will be a positive relation between each of these factors
and the level of standardisation – Proposition One.
Consistent with GMS theory, to the extent that customers are more similar across markets, a
more standardised promotional programme would fit this external environmental factor and
would thus be more effective. This significant finding lends support to the proposition
regarding the positive effect of the environmental factors on the level of Internet promotional
standardisation.
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Strategic Factors
The first objective was to examine the proposition suggested by the literature that key
environmental and strategic factors can ‘trigger’ the promotional standardisation strategy
formulation for MNC’s, their subsidiaries and Advertising Agencies across the UK, France
and Germany. Theory from the Literature Review generally suggests that firm’s that have
internal factors conducive to standardisation and that face similarly conducive environments
will be more likely to standardise marketing variables e.g. promotion. Thus, the results are
consistent with those of Zou and Cavusgil (2002); and provide support for GMS theory, as it
applies to promotion. Indeed, firm’s with appropriate internal conditions and facing
conducive environments were more likely to employ standardised Internet promotional
programmes. Below we examine the results and implications of the specific findings that
support the theory.
Uniform Brand Image
This is consistent with the views of De Mooij (2005); Keller (2007) and Kapferer (2008).
This is also consistent with the views of WPP Group UK (2010) who stated that it has
become a central figure of their strategy to have a uniform image for the brand; at the very
least over the 3 countries to which the thesis is referring.
It offers a single point of contact for coordinating marketing activities, improved cost
efficiencies, better marketing strategy and access to communications. This is further
reinforced by WPP Group UK (2010) who outlined that one of the objectives of their
category re-organisation was to benefit better from scale and scope and to concentrate their
resources on fewer and stronger innovation units.
The idea of a firm having a uniform brand image has received considerable attention in the
marketing strategy literature, but it has not been the focus of the literature on promotional
standardisation. However, as it is suggested by Zou and Cavusgil’s (2002) GMS perspective
that promotional standardisation is a key characteristic of firms that have a global brand
image, the GMS perspective clearly implies that firms with a uniform brand image will be
more likely to standardise their promotion. This is consistent with the findings from WPP
Group UK (2010) who state that they make an attempt to create and re-enforce a strong
global brand image especially in their TV advertising across the EU. They believe that there
is an issue of the impact of what an effective standardised campaign should do for a company
in terms of brand equity. This is further reinforced by WPP Group Germany (2010) who
stated that it has become a central figure of their strategy to have a uniform image for the
brand. At the very least over the 3 countries to which the paper is referring.
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Cost Savings
This is the highest in terms of positive feedback from the empirical research. This is hardly a
surprising perception from managers. As verified by the literature: a widely accepted benefit
of promotional standardisation is that it takes advantage of economies of scale/scope (Levitt
1983). This is consistent with the findings from WPP Group UK (2010) that one of the
benefits of standardising the advertising is to save costs. This in turn, will save on the costs of
producing the advertising (WPP Group France 2010; WPP Group Germany 2010). They also
go on to state that there is definitely the unrealised potential of standardisation: increased
economies of scale and scope and the ability to leverage Advertising GBP/EUROS to their
maximum effect.
Cross-Market Segments
The response towards cross-market segments was fairly positive. This is line with the concept
related to Zou and Cavusgil’s (2002) GMS perspective, which is the firm’s belief that crossmarket segmentation can be effective. This is also consistent with the findings from WPP
Group UK (2010) who stated that the greater a firm's perception of increasing convergence in
the EU, the greater its tendency to follow a strategy to appeal to cross-border segments. This
was further reinforced by WPP Group France (2010) who think firms do strive to target
similar market segments and may therefore employ a campaign across these markets; WPP
Group Germany (2010) also verified that firms do strive to target similar market segments
and they do therefore employ similar promotion across these target segments/markets. In
terms of their overall Marketing Strategy, these factors would then enable them to pursue
promotional standardisation.
Organisational Control
The reaction to the level of control that the parent firm has over subsidiaries and its impact on
promotion standardisation was reasonably positive and this is also suggested by the literature
(Laroche et al. 1999; Samiee et al. 2003; Solberg 2002). It is widely believed that when
control is centralised at the MNC’s headquarters, promotion will be more standardised
(Duncan and Ramaprasad 1995; Laroche et al. 2001).
This is consistent with the findings from WPP Group UK (2010) that the Internet promotional
standardisation decisions - are on the whole - made centrally at the company’s world
headquarters. The findings from their subsidiaries WPP Group France and Germany (2010)
back Headquarter’s statement whereby they realise the importance of standardisation and also
state that Headquarter’s do try to pressure the subsidiaries into standardising their Internet
promotion across these markets in the EU.
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When all of these strategic factors are analysed together we find that the strategic factors have
the strongest effect on the level of Internet Promotional standardisation. Therefore, firms that
implement Uniform Brand Image Strategies and that seek to emphasise a Centralised
Strategic Orientation, Cost Savings and Cross-Border Segmentation are likely to standardise
their Internet promotion.
This is an important component of the framework, however, as it suggests that firm’s that find
global strategies to be desirable and feasible appear to have more success in implementing
standardised Internet promotional programs. Finally, a positive relation exists between the
level of control and the level of standardisation. This finding is consistent with the prior
literature and suggests that firms with centralised strategies are more likely to engage in
standardized Internet promotion.
Research on the second objective enabled the development of a framework that served as a
theoretical base for the primary research, which examined the promotional practices of
MNCs and Agencies in the UK, France and Germany. The framework, detailed in Appendix
II, summarised the findings from the literature review in a visual and comprehensive way. It
predicts that companies with internal orientations and external conditions more conducive to
standardisation will be more likely to employ Internet promotional standardisation.
Promotional Standardisation – Internet Promotion
Firms responded very positively to this question. This is very interesting in terms of the
impact this will have on promotional standardisation now and in the future. This will add a
valuable contribution to this paper. These research findings are consistent with the theory
that, since the 1960s, the standardisation of international advertising has been a central theme
in many studies, especially because of the growth of global media and the increasing
homogenisation of consumer tastes across the world (Duncan and Ramaprasad, 1995; Harris,
1994; Samiee et al., 2003). Moreover, as the findings substantiate, the standardisation-versuslocalisation issue, which has attracted considerable research efforts in recent years, most
studies have focused only on traditional media, leaving the cross-cultural variability of online
communications unexplored (Taylor and Johnson, 2002).
This is consistent with the findings that, multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in
European markets are now facing more and more pressure to generate more comprehensive
marketing strategies on the web (Laroche et al 2001). The WPP Group UK (2010) outlined
that more and more customers are using the Internet as an‘experience’ rather than just buying
commodities.
17
Companies are looking to create global brand images by using the Internet as the
communication tool and then tweaking e.g. languages etc to fit certain markets. They believe
that the popularity of the Internet ‘fits’ with promotional standardisation. You can
communicate your product to anyone who has Internet access.
Moreover, the growth of the Internet has particularly favoured the proponents of international
promotional standardisation, because anyone can access any web site from any wired or
wireless terminal in the world (Roberts and Ko (2001). The findings from the in-depth
interviews also verify this. The WPP Group UK (2010) outlined that this is a great way to
create a global identity and standardisation of promotion follows suit. They think the Internet
has and will allow greater standardisation of promotion and adds more weight to the
argument over adaptation. This unexplored area that this thesis is looking at is very new and
could ‘overcome’ the traditional barrier to standardisation: ‘culture’. Expectancy
overcomes Resistance?
In terms of WEB 2.0 the research findings are very positive as their contribution to
promotional standardisation. This is in line with the theories suggested by Constantinides and
Fountain (2008), who state that MNC’s can capitalise on these developments in three
different ways:

The first way is to understand how social media function and include them in their PR
arsenal as a means of reaching and informing the new online opinion leaders
(bloggers, podcasters, etc) about their products, services and new market offers:
This is consistent with the findings from WPP Group France (2010) that companies such as
Abercrombie and Fitch can communicate their ‘global’ appeal e.g. their website is fairly
standardised in terms of its Internet promotion and the Web 2.0 features that it uses e.g.
global blogs, forums, feedback etc - this is a great way to create a global identity in terms of
fashion and standardisation of promotion has to follow to convey the image of the brand. It is
a fashion brand that is positioned as one worn by adults, middle-class, men/women who are
globally cosmopolitan.
WPP Group France (2010), think the Internet has and will allow greater standardisation of
promotion and can use ‘culture’ to its advantage to create a ‘global’ culture. Instead of being
an impediment, the Internet can use culture to its advantage.
18

The second way in which marketers can engage with the Web 2.0 is by actively and
consequently 'listening-in' to the customer's voice: what people say about the firm and
its products in blogs, podcasts, forums and online communities:
This is in line with the findings from WPP Group UK (2010) that companies like Coke can
communicate their ‘global’ appeal e.g. which new flavours they like (Cherry, Vanilla, Lime
and Lemon). They then can plan their promotional strategies accordingly.

The third way to utilise Web 2.0 media is to engage them as tools of direct,
personalised one-to-one marketing:
This is in line with the findings from the in-depth interviews. WPP Group Germany (2010)
suggests this is an area where industrial products are using various forms of the online
environment. Web sites have been one of the most popular platforms, allowing consumers to
see, consult and obtain product-related information anytime, anywhere. This is particularly
important for industrial products, as this can be a ‘one stop’ shop for all their products and
customers can access information and buy products 24-7.
It is important that all of the information and promotions are standardised as much as possible
so as to reinforce the global nature of these companies. They also believe that there is scope
for even more standardisation e.g. video sharing of products that can be viewed
anytime/anywhere. They spoke of a Google Database, which will have standardised
promotion in real-time worldwide. This is in line with cloud-computing and new Web 3.0
features such as Virtual Worlds, Avatars and the Semantic Web. This will bring into the fore
the future issues of Web 3.0 features as cited by (Chaffey et al 2009).
19
DISCUSSION
Proposition One (P1) of this research looked at the extent to which MNC’S and Advertising
Agencies perceived a similarity of advertising infrastructure, market harmonisation and level
of competition across these 3 countries. The results for the first research question are striking
in that companies are fairly positive regarding the similarity of the advertising infrastructure
and market harmonisation across the EU markets. This finding suggests that managers
perceive similarities of advertising infrastructure and harmonisation of markets across
different EU markets e.g. UK, France and Germany. Notably, however, managers expressed
strong agreement that competitive conditions are uniformly high across the EU. Collectively,
these results appear to suggest that due to the years of integration efforts, managers perceive
there to be similarities across these EU markets. These ratings for advertising infrastructure
and market harmonisation suggest a fair degree of integration. The results support the idea
that managers can realistically treat these European Markets as fairly similar in terms of a
single market. However, recent EU expansion into Eastern European markets may be one
contributing factor to not treating Europe as a single market, also political obstacles to
increasing the scope of unification.
The results for the questions on the harmonisation of these EU markets may help explain the
results for our research questions related to the level of promotion standardisation that firms
use across these markets. Given that the Agencies/MNCs were fairly positive about the
harmonisation of EU markets, it is not surprising that firms indicated strong agreement with
statements about the degree to which they standardise advertising strategy/executions, sales
promotion and Internet promotion. In terms of the GMS perspective, if firms perceive the
external environment as not being conducive to standardisation, fit will be reduced, even for
firms that have a strong internal ability to develop and implement standardised strategies.
Therefore, given the positive perceptions of the EU as a single market, it is not surprising that
firms indicate a fairly strong agreement related to standardising advertising
strategy/executions, sales promotion and Internet promotion.
Proposition Two (P2) looked at whether these MNCs and Agencies believe that Internet
promotional standardisation is associated with specific benefits. The weight of the research
evidence in recent years suggests that standardising promotional strategy is advisable when
environmental conditions allow it because of its ability to create a uniform brand image,
achieve cost savings and appeal to cross-market segments (Duncan and Ramaprasad 1995;
Harris 1994; Taylor 2002). Although executions may need to be adapted, standardising
Internet promotional strategy at a broad level appears to be desirable in many cases.
These findings may assume that, in general, firms who conduct promotion across these
markets in the EU would be well advised to standardise their Internet promotional strategies.
More importantly, the findings suggest that there could be a trend toward firms engaging in
standardisation when fit in the framework developed allows it. In the next few years, as EU
markets may become even more similar over time; it will make sense therefore for managers
to attempt to implement standardised promotional strategies. There appear to be less
language-based obstacles than in the past (the two official working languages of the EU are
English and French), and viewing standardised promotional strategy as a complement to
standardised product strategy would be beneficial.
20
CONCLUSION
This paper examined Advertising Agencies B2B relationship with MNC’s across UK, France
and Germany: with particular reference to Internet Promotional Standardisation Strategy.
Although the debate over promotional standardisation has led to too much research effort
investigating which of the two approaches (standardisation or local adaptation) MNCs are
likely to adopt, little theory has addressed why firms standardise? A key contribution of this
research is that it provides support for the application of GMS theory to the context of
Internet promotional standardisation. Consistent with GMS theory, our framework supports
the notion that there are antecedents that drive Internet promotional standardisation:
environmental factors and strategic factors that can significantly influence the level of
Internet promotional standardisation with the UK, France and Germany. An additional
contribution is that the framework adds a valuable contribution in Internet Promotion e.g.
Web 2.0.
This paper finds that, on average, managers reported that Standardised Advertising
Strategy/Execution, Sales Promotion, Branding and Internet promotion was fairly high across
these markets in the EU with Internet Promotion being the highest!
The results of the paper suggest that progress has been made regarding moving EU markets
further toward becoming a single market but, managers of subsidiaries still note that there are
some differences in market harmonisation that temper the ability to standardise Internet
promotional programmes. As the GMS theory suggests, for cases in which standardisation
strategy does not fit with the external environment, it will be more difficult to implement
standardised promotion fully.
Managerial Implications
The study is limited to the assessment of managerial perceptions at a single point in time: it
measured managerial perceptions of Internet promotional standardisation, as opposed to
actual performance.
It only contained British Firms operating in UK, France and Germany; Firms from other
European Countries within the EU were not included e.g. Spain, Holland and Italy. Future
research should attempt to validate the framework by using foreign and home comparisons of
Internet promotional strategy, and the study should be replicated with additional samples
including firm’s of other national origins, across different markets, and with a separate focus
on business to business versus consumer products. This could also include other countries
newer to the EU such as Poland.
7.12
Future Research
Future research could explore Web 3.0 effects on Internet promotional standardisation as
indicated by Chaffey et al (2009) on page 18 of this paper. This would be interesting to see
how these features will affect Internet promotional standardisation over the next few years!
21
Appendix I
Internationa
l
Experience
Advertising
Strategy
Global
Orientation
External
Globalising
conditions
Promotional
Standardisation
(GMS)
Sales
Promotion
ADVERTISING
INFRASTRUCTURE
22
MARKET
HARMONISATION
LEVEL OF COMPETITION
ENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORS (P1)
UNIFORM BRAND
IMAGE
COST SAVINGS
APPEAL TO CROSS
MARKET SEGMENTS
ORGANISATIONAL
CONTROL
STRATEGIC
FACTORS (P2)
LEVEL OF
INTERNET
PROMOTIONAL
STANDARDISATIO
N STRATEGY
Business Strategy
Design (WEB 2.0)
Audience Creation
Advertising
Promotions
Analysis
23
Appendix III: Advertising Executive for (WPP Group France)
To research the extent to which do Agencies perceive EU markets as being similar?
Advertising Infrastructure
Tell me about Advertising regulation and if there are any similarities across these
three markets in the EU?
“Regarding perceptions of the advertising infrastructure, including the
availability of similar media and similar costs, I would say that I am fairly
neutral on this one. There is some form of European media, which are
increasingly adopting uniform standards across countries, which in turn ensures
cross-border media availability. I would say that there is some form of growth of
new telecommunication technologies and a wave of deregulation; however there
may still be some differences in the infrastructure of European markets.”
For example, the advancement of the Internet and broadband connections has
substantially improved media availability and has enabled cross-national media
buying practice.
Market Harmonisation
There has been an increase in the economic unification of the European Union; Tell
me if this has led to an increase in homogenisation of these markets across the EU?
“It is also possible that some managers may be holding back on implementing
strategy as a result of continued doubts about the future of convergence, as
evidenced by the French and Dutch referenda on the EU constitution.”
“Cross-cultural differences are the biggest barrier to implementing this
standardisation strategy. There are definitely perceptions amongst mangers that
there are moves towards the EU as one single market where advertising strategy
can be planned accordingly.”
“Culture and cross-national differences... In terms of your conceptual
framework which looks at standardisation, this can be a barrier in implementing
the standardisation strategy fully.”
Level of Competition
Tell me about the competition across these markets in the EU?
“Yes, the degree of competition across these markets is highly competitive. The
competitive conditions, as well are highly intense”
24
Tell me about your competitors? Do they have a uniform image across the European
markets?
“Most of our competitors do strive to create a uniform image across these
markets.”
What are the benefits from standardised advertising across the EU?
Uniform Brand Image
Tell me more about your brand positioning strategy? Is it standardised?
“It was noted by WPP that the preference of clients to streamline and integrate
their brand communications across countries spurred many communication
agencies to take the globalisation route.
They highlighted the fact that agencies with global reach have the advantage of
offering a single point of contact for coordinating marketing activities, improved
cost efficiencies, greater coherence in marketing ‘voice’, and access to the agency
CEO in times of crisis.”
In terms of a strong global image for your Brand – tell me if this has been created and
reinforced?
“Multinational advertisers generally preferred working with agencies able to
design, implement and manage global campaigns. Multinational advertising
agencies have pushed ideas such as global branding and advertising
standardisation to increase their attractiveness to potential clients as a ‘one-stop’
global provider.”
Cost Savings
Tell me about the company’s promotional budget and whether it can be used more
efficiently if the advertising was standardised?
“Yes, there is definitely the unrealised potential of standardisation that some
companies have yet to unearth: increased economies of scale and scope and the
ability to leverage advertising pounds/dollars/euros to their maximum effect.”
Tell me about standardisation and if the company can save on the costs of producing
advertising?
“Yes, with this growing convergence, standardisation should be practised more
often as the company can save costs on the production of advertising. This is, of
course, very important in today’s current climate.”
25
Cross-market segmentation
Tell me if you believe that the company targets similar market segments across the
European markets in which they do business?
“Yes, with this increasing convergence and opportunities for cost savings I think
firms do strive to target similar market segments and may therefore employ an
Integrated Marketing Communications Campaign across these markets. Yes, I
think these strategic orientations would point a firm towards standardisation as
there are significant benefits to be had.”
Tell me if these standardised ads can attract consumers with similar characteristics
across borders?
“Yes, they can to an extent. However, companies need to take into account cross
national differences – if there are any – in the first place.”
Centralised decision-making
Tell me about promotional decisions and are they made centrally at the company’s
world headquarters or are the subsidiaries highly involved in developing promotional
strategy?
“If the promotional decisions are made at the HQ then the route appears to be
one of consistency – therefore, standardisation will be sought after. However, if
the subsidiary is more involved with the decision making then adaptation may
become more prevalent.”
The extent to which the company is standardising their advertising strategy and
executions?
Advertising Strategy and Executions
Tell me if the company uses the same general strategy for their advertisements in all
of the countries in which they advertise.
“Yes, to a reasonable extent some of our companies try to use the same general
advertising strategy for their advertisements across these markets. There are,
however, some occasions when adaptation is necessary – at the very least- if a
linguistic change is needed in the copy.”
Tell me more about media strategies and if they are similar across the markets in
which you advertise.
“For example, the advancement of the Internet and broadband connections has
substantially improved media availability and has enabled cross-national media
buying practice. This has, therefore, contributed to the increase in promotional
standardisation across theses 3 countries.”
26
Tell me also if the company uses the same advertising executions for all of the above
European countries where they advertise.
“I would say that this element for companies is not as standardised as the
strategic element.”
Standardised Sales Promotion
“I have noticed greater use of sales promotion over the last few years. This must
also have a lot to do with the way the financial markets are. Clinique use a lot of
similar sales promotions especially in UK, France and Germany. This usually
takes the form of ‘buy 2 items and get a makeup set free’; this is in most shops in
these markets, as well as at their respective airports. This creates more
integration with their ‘above the line’ promotional strategies e.g. advertising.
This therefore creates more uniform branding e.g. a European and Global
Brand e.g., similar strategies in the USA as well. This appears to be a case of the
tail wagging dog.
Standardised Internet Promotion
“This is where firms, I think, can exploit promotional standardisation even more
fully than with other traditional methods that you have mentioned. You can
communicate your product to anyone who has Internet access. Companies like
Abercrombie and Fitch can communicate their ‘global’ appeal e.g. their website
is fairly standardised in terms of its Internet promotion and the web 2.0 features
that it uses e.g. global blogs, forums feedback etc.... This is a great way to create
a global identity in terms of fashion and standardisation of promotion has to
follow to convey the image of the brand! I think the Internet has and will allow
greater standardisation of promotion and can use ‘culture’ to its advantage to
create a ‘global’ culture; instead of being an impediment the Internet can use
culture to its advantage. Web 3.0 activities could increase this phenomenon
further!”

So overall what are the key things that you perceive to be important when a
firm makes the decision to standardise its advertising across these markets?
“This ‘gap’ for companies constitutes the unrealized potential of
standardisation: increased economies of scale and scope and the ability to
leverage advertising spend to their maximum effect”.
“Yes, looking at the model - firms with appropriate internal conditions and
facing conducive environments will be more likely to employ standardised
advertising programs.”
27
Appendix IV: Advertising Executive for (WPP Group Germany)

To what extent do Agencies perceive EU markets as similar?
Advertising Infrastructure
Tell me about Advertising regulation and if there are any similarities across these
markets in the EU?
“Yes, I would say that there is definitely a swing towards similarity of
advertising infrastructure, including the availability of similar media and similar
costs. There is a lot more European media which are increasingly adopting
uniform standards across countries e.g. SKY, BBC NEWS etc… which in turn
ensures cross-border media availability. I would say there has been a steady
growth of new telecommunication technologies and a wave of deregulation,
however, there are still some differences in the infrastructure of European
markets other than the UK, France and Germany.”
Market Harmonisation
There has been an increase in the economic unification of the European Union; Tell
me if this has led to an increase in homogenisation of these markets across the EU?
“There has been increasing market homogenisation across Europe. We try to
base our strategy alongside these increasing trends. It does lean towards
standardisation.”
Tell me if countries with geographic proximity tend to have similar Market
conditions.
“There are definitely perceptions amongst mangers that there are moves
towards the EU as one single market where promotional strategy can be planned
accordingly. The Internet seems to be overcoming the traditional barrier to
complete standardisation e.g. culture.”
“The Internet is available to most people in the EU. People that favour
standardisation e.g. Promotion in your case, say that the growth of the Internet
and especially the features of Web 2.0 with Social Networking sites such as
Facebook, will make the argument for standardisation even greater.”
28
Level of Competition
Tell me about the competition across these markets in the EU?
“Yes, the degree of competition across these markets is highly competitive.”
Tell me about your competitors? Do they have a uniform image across the European
markets?
“Most of our competitors do strive to create a uniform image across these
markets. Yes, we always try to standardise this promotion alongside a uniform
image. I think this creates better resources for more streamlined and effective
promotion.”
What are the benefits from standardised advertising across the EU?
Uniform Brand Image
Tell me more about your brand positioning strategy? Is it standardised?
“Yes, most of our clients integrate their brand communications across countries
and this is via the standardisation route. It is much better if our agencies have
global reach as it will allow us a single point of contact for coordinating
marketing activities, improved cost efficiencies, better marketing strategy and
access to communications. Standardisation of promotion is high on the agenda.”
In terms of a strong uniform image for your Brand – tell me if this has been created
and reinforced?
“Yes, it has become a central figure of our strategy to have a uniform image for
the brand. At the very least over the 3 countries to which you are referring.”
Cost Savings
Tell me about the company’s promotional budget and whether it could be used more
efficiently if the advertising was standardised?
“Yes, this is one of the most important benefits to any agency and company increased economies of scale and scope. Very important factor in today’s
economy with the financial crises and recession.”
Tell me about standardisation and if the company can save on the costs of producing
advertising?
“Yes, as I mentioned in the last question, one can also save costs on the
production of advertising. This is, of course, very important in today’s current
climate.”
29
Cross-market segmentation
Tell me if you believe that the company targets similar market segments across the
European markets in which they do business?
“I think firms do strive to target similar market segments and we do therefore
employ similar promotion across these target segments/ markets. In terms of our
overall Marketing Strategy, these factors would then enable us to pursue
promotional standardisation.”
Tell me if these standardised ads can attract consumers with similar characteristics
across borders.
“Yes, they can attract consumers with similar characteristics.”
Centralised decision-making
Tell me about promotional decisions and are they are made centrally at the company’s
world headquarters or are the subsidiaries highly involved in developing promotional
strategy?
“Most of the promotional decisions are made at the HQ and promotional
standardisation is undertaken as much as possible. We do, however, have some
situations if the subsidiary is more involved with the decision making then
adaptation may become more attractive. This is decreasing.”
The extent to which the company is standardising their advertising strategy and
executions?
Advertising Strategy and Executions
Tell me if the company uses the same general strategy for their advertisements in all
of the countries where they advertise.
“Yes, the advertising strategy is standardised as much as possible across these
markets. If the language needs changing then that is something that has to be
done in the copy.”
Tell me more about media strategies and if they are similar across the markets in
which you advertise.
“Yes, to a large extent.”
Tell me also if the company uses the same advertising executions for all of the above
European countries in which they advertise
“We do use some of the same executions in these markets. However, this changes
a little more than the strategy.”
30
Standardised Sales Promotion
“There is even more standardisation with industrial companies, due to the
nature of the product. The sales promotion follows this as well. The companies
have similar deals with parts for products that customers wish to purchase and
certainly in these markets that you have mentioned.”
Standardised Internet Promotion
“I think this is an area where industrial products are using various forms of
online environment. Web sites have been one of the most popular platforms,
allowing consumers to see, consult and obtain product-related information
anytime, anywhere. This is particularly important in ‘industry’, as this can be a
‘one stop’ shop for all our products and customers can access information and
buy products 24-7. It is important that all of the information and promotions are
standardised as much as possible, to reinforce the global nature of these
companies. I think that there is scope for even more standardisation e.g. video
sharing of products that can be viewed anytime/anywhere. There is talk of a
Google Database, which will have standardised promotion in real-time
worldwide. This is in line with cloud-computing and new Web 3.0 features.”
So, overall, what are the key things that you perceive to be important when a firm
makes the decision to standardise its promotion across these markets?
“Certainly there is more standardisation of promotion over the last few years
that I have been working. Advertising, Sales Promotion and even more so with
the Internet and Web 2.0 will see an even greater propensity to standardise over
the next few years. This is a very good area to look at e.g. The Internet and its
impact on standardisation for academia and industry. I would say that it
provides a valuable contribution to both’.
31
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